Malaysia to deport 50 DPRK workers with overstayed visas

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia will deport about 50 nationals from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea working in the country with overstayed visas, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Tuesday.

They are part of DPRK citizens working in Sarawak. It is reported that they are mainly in businesses including coal mining and construction.

Their situation came to light after the DPRK and Malaysia barred each other’s citizens from leaving over the investi- gation into the death of a DPRK man at Kuala Lumpur airport last month. The man has been identified by Malaysian police as Kim Jong-nam, the elder half brother of DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

Malaysia will send them back to Pyongyang, Zahid said.

Those with valid visas can stay, he said, adding that currently there are a total of 315 DPRK nationals in Malaysia.

In addition, there are also 191 DPRK nationals under the Malaysia My Second Home program, which allows for- eigners to enter and leave Malaysia on a long term stay in Malaysia for up to 10 years.

Zahid said talks are ongoing to bring back the nine Malaysians stranded in the DPRK.

On Monday, the DPRK’s ambassador to the United Nations, Kim In-ryong, denied the man assassinated in Malaysia was Kim Jong-nam, saying the Washington and Seoul should be blamed over “reckless moves aimed to ... tarnish the image of the DPRK”.